Public invited to new Syracuse University lecture series on sexuality

Syracuse, NY- A new public lecture series aimed at enhancing discussions about sexuality and space in Syracuse will be launched at Syracuse University Monday.

The series, called "Sexuality and Space: Queering Syracuse," will bring SU students and community members into conversations with SU visiting scholars.

All lectures are open to the public and will be held at 5 p.m. in Room 220 of Eggers Hall. Here is the schedule:

Monday, Jan. 26:Alison Mountz, assistant professor of geography at SU's Maxwell School, and Amy Tweedy, an SU doctoral student in social sciences, will speak about "what it means to 'queer' Syracuse." Mountz and Tweedy are co-teaching the university's new "Sexuality and Space: Queering Syracuse" course this semester.

February 23:David Valentine, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota, will present "Mapping the 'Sexual': Transgender Bodies, Gay Bodies and the Geography of Ontology."

Valentine's research interests include sexuality, gender, language and communication. Valentine is the author of "Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category" (Duke University Press, 2007).

March 30:Judith Halberstam, professor of English and gender studies at the University of Southern California, will address "Queer Negativity."

Halberstam works in the areas of popular, visual and queer culture with an emphasis on subcultures. Her groundbreaking book, "Female Masculinity" (Duke University Press, 1998), explored non-male masculinity and tracked the impact of female masculinity upon hegemonic genders.

Halberstam's last book, "In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives" (NYU Press, 2005), described and theorized queer reconfigurations of time and space in relation to subcultural scenes and the emergence of transgender visibility.

April 20: Michael Brown, professor of geography at the University of Washington, will present "Queer History Project: Participatory Action Research."

Brown is the author of multiple books and articles that explore sexuality and space, citizenship, and political and urban geographies. Prominent among these is "Closet Space: Geographies of Metaphor From the Body to the Globe" (Routledge, 2000).